Thursday, March 31, 2005
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Community Awareness Conference & Trade Show
April 29-May 1, 2005
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Challenged by the One Tonne Challenge!
Malaspina University-College
Centre for Continuing Studies
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Tradeshow
Friday April 29, 4 - 7pm &
Saturday April 30, 9am - 6pm
Suppliers & manufacturers will be exhibiting their products & services pertaining to renewable energy & conservation.
Malaspina University-College
Building 356, Room 111
FREE Entrance
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The Renewable Energy Speaker Series
Friday, April 29, 7 - 9pm
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Mr. Guy Dauncey
Renewable Energy: The Seven Essential Keys
Saturday, April 30, 8:30am - 5:30pm
8:30 - 9:00 Coffee & Welcome , Dr. David Drakeford,
Dean, Science & Technology
9:00 - 10:00 Geo-Exchange Energy, Mr. Ruben Arellano
10:00 - 11:00 Biomass Energy , Mr. Norm Starling,
Canadian Biomass Association
11:00 - Noon Micro Hydro , SOLTEK
Noon - 1:00 Lunch
1:00 - 2:00 Conservation , Ms. Julie Johnston,
GreenHeart Education
2:00 - 3 :00 Wind Energy , Remy Quinter, SeaBreeze
3:00 - 4:00 Solar Energy , Mr. Eric Smiley,
BCIT & Canadian Solar Industries Assn.
4:00 - 5:30 Home Energy Saving Forum
Various Presenters
Registration Code: SCTE 001 S0501
$40 + GST (Includes light lunch & refreshments on Saturday.)
http://www.mala.ca/ccs
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Field Trip Options
Sunday, May 1, 2005
An exciting range of field trip options - applications of energy conservation.
Energized Homes: Nanaimo
A local field trip of houses with energy-conservation and renewable energy features, including Ian Gartshore’s house (solar heating, solar PV, a windmill under construction). Also included, the Foodshare Centre (a 1940’s house that has been upgraded to R2000) and a modern structural insulated panel house that is better than R2000.
Registration Code: SCTE 002 S0501
8:45am – Noon; $15 + GST (includes transportation)
Energized Homes: Gabriola
A trip to Gabriola Island to view energy conservation and renewable energy technologies at their best.
Registration Code: SCTE 003 S0501
8:45am – 1:30pm; $20 + GST (includes transportation)
Energized Communities: China Creek
A trip to the China Creek micro-hydro project near Port Alberni. The Hupacasath First Nation will be powering many homes in the Alberni Valley by 2005 through a microhydro project on China Creek. It has been projected that the environmentally-friendly micro-hydro project will provide 5.6 megawatts of power to the Vancouver Island power grid, generating revenue for Hupacasath and project partners.
Registration Code: SCTE 004 S0501
8:45am – 3:00pm; $25 + GST (includes transportation)
Seating Limited!
TO REGISTER CALL
1-866-734-6252
In partnership with
Centre for Continuing Studies
Faculty of Science & Technology,
Energy Solutions for Vancouver Island
with sponsorship by
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Community Awareness Conference & Trade Show
April 29-May 1, 2005
Nanaimo, British Columbia
Challenged by the One Tonne Challenge!
Malaspina University-College
Centre for Continuing Studies
---/
Tradeshow
Friday April 29, 4 - 7pm &
Saturday April 30, 9am - 6pm
Suppliers & manufacturers will be exhibiting their products & services pertaining to renewable energy & conservation.
Malaspina University-College
Building 356, Room 111
FREE Entrance
---/
The Renewable Energy Speaker Series
Friday, April 29, 7 - 9pm
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Mr. Guy Dauncey
Renewable Energy: The Seven Essential Keys
Saturday, April 30, 8:30am - 5:30pm
8:30 - 9:00 Coffee & Welcome , Dr. David Drakeford,
Dean, Science & Technology
9:00 - 10:00 Geo-Exchange Energy, Mr. Ruben Arellano
10:00 - 11:00 Biomass Energy , Mr. Norm Starling,
Canadian Biomass Association
11:00 - Noon Micro Hydro , SOLTEK
Noon - 1:00 Lunch
1:00 - 2:00 Conservation , Ms. Julie Johnston,
GreenHeart Education
2:00 - 3 :00 Wind Energy , Remy Quinter, SeaBreeze
3:00 - 4:00 Solar Energy , Mr. Eric Smiley,
BCIT & Canadian Solar Industries Assn.
4:00 - 5:30 Home Energy Saving Forum
Various Presenters
Registration Code: SCTE 001 S0501
$40 + GST (Includes light lunch & refreshments on Saturday.)
http://www.mala.ca/ccs
---/
Field Trip Options
Sunday, May 1, 2005
An exciting range of field trip options - applications of energy conservation.
Energized Homes: Nanaimo
A local field trip of houses with energy-conservation and renewable energy features, including Ian Gartshore’s house (solar heating, solar PV, a windmill under construction). Also included, the Foodshare Centre (a 1940’s house that has been upgraded to R2000) and a modern structural insulated panel house that is better than R2000.
Registration Code: SCTE 002 S0501
8:45am – Noon; $15 + GST (includes transportation)
Energized Homes: Gabriola
A trip to Gabriola Island to view energy conservation and renewable energy technologies at their best.
Registration Code: SCTE 003 S0501
8:45am – 1:30pm; $20 + GST (includes transportation)
Energized Communities: China Creek
A trip to the China Creek micro-hydro project near Port Alberni. The Hupacasath First Nation will be powering many homes in the Alberni Valley by 2005 through a microhydro project on China Creek. It has been projected that the environmentally-friendly micro-hydro project will provide 5.6 megawatts of power to the Vancouver Island power grid, generating revenue for Hupacasath and project partners.
Registration Code: SCTE 004 S0501
8:45am – 3:00pm; $25 + GST (includes transportation)
Seating Limited!
TO REGISTER CALL
1-866-734-6252
In partnership with
Centre for Continuing Studies
Faculty of Science & Technology,
Energy Solutions for Vancouver Island
with sponsorship by
Western Economic Diversification Canada
Local Economics / Empowerment
No Longer Passive Communities
GREAT BARRINGTON, MA, Mar. 10, 2005 (E. F. Schumacher Society) - Dear Friends, Imagine a world where we no longer see ourselves as passive "consumers," but instead we actively create an economy that supports the life of our community. Not all of us are destined to be entrepreneurs, but we can all participate in supporting the businesses that provide the products and services needed for a sustainable economy.
The Self-Help Association for a Regional Economy (SHARE) is a model community-based nonprofit that offers a simple way for citizens to use their savings to make micro-credit loans available at manageable interest rates to businesses that are often considered "high risk" by traditional lenders.
Local SHARE members make interest-earning deposits in a local bank; these deposits are used by SHARE to collateralize loans for small businesses that have a positive community impact.
SHARE depositors live in the same community as the business owners they support--bringing a human face back to lending decisions. The SHARE program of the Southern Berkshire region existed from 1981 to 1992, collateralizing 23 loans with a 100% rate of repayment--surprising the bankers but not the SHARE depositors, who knew the community businesses they supported.
Members of SHARE pointed to Rawson Brook goat cheese or Jim¹s draft horses or Marty¹s Washing Machine Repair Service or Bonnie¹s wool-knit sweaters and knew where their savings were at work. They had a true picture of the social and environmental effect of their investments, a picture not available from an abstract bank statement merely showing a standard rate of return. When Sue's house burned to the ground at Rawson Brook Farm in February of 1992, SHARE members thought it natural to extend her loan, and in addition members individually donated clothes, household items, and time to help rebuild. The visibility and good will generated toward a community-collateralized business thus helps ensure its success.
The SHARE model is a useful and simple-to-operate tool that allows citizens to make affordable loans available to businesses that cannot secure loans at
reasonable rates for a variety of reasons. For example, there may be community members who don't have a good credit history or women who stayed home to raise children and have not built credit. There may be entire communities, especially low income communities, where banks are wary to invest or where local banks don't exist. There may also be new and innovative business ideas that aim to preserve resources or enhance the community in unique ways that banks are unfamiliar with and are therefore less likely to fund.
The power of SHARE is that it allows the community to decide what types of businesses it wants and leverages the community's capital to make those businesses possible. The E.F. Schumacher Society, originator of the SHARE model, now has made the background and organizational documents available online so that others may replicate SHARE in their communities. The SHARE Handbook is available at the E. F. Schumacher Society's web site http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/ by clicking on SHARE Micro Credit Program link orgoing directly to http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/frameset_share.html.
We thank our members for their support in making this work possible!
Sincerely,
Merrian Fuller
Chris Lindstrom
Dane Springmeyer
Susan Witt
E. F. Schumacher Society
140 Jug End Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230 USA
http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/
No Longer Passive Communities
GREAT BARRINGTON, MA, Mar. 10, 2005 (E. F. Schumacher Society) - Dear Friends, Imagine a world where we no longer see ourselves as passive "consumers," but instead we actively create an economy that supports the life of our community. Not all of us are destined to be entrepreneurs, but we can all participate in supporting the businesses that provide the products and services needed for a sustainable economy.
The Self-Help Association for a Regional Economy (SHARE) is a model community-based nonprofit that offers a simple way for citizens to use their savings to make micro-credit loans available at manageable interest rates to businesses that are often considered "high risk" by traditional lenders.
Local SHARE members make interest-earning deposits in a local bank; these deposits are used by SHARE to collateralize loans for small businesses that have a positive community impact.
SHARE depositors live in the same community as the business owners they support--bringing a human face back to lending decisions. The SHARE program of the Southern Berkshire region existed from 1981 to 1992, collateralizing 23 loans with a 100% rate of repayment--surprising the bankers but not the SHARE depositors, who knew the community businesses they supported.
Members of SHARE pointed to Rawson Brook goat cheese or Jim¹s draft horses or Marty¹s Washing Machine Repair Service or Bonnie¹s wool-knit sweaters and knew where their savings were at work. They had a true picture of the social and environmental effect of their investments, a picture not available from an abstract bank statement merely showing a standard rate of return. When Sue's house burned to the ground at Rawson Brook Farm in February of 1992, SHARE members thought it natural to extend her loan, and in addition members individually donated clothes, household items, and time to help rebuild. The visibility and good will generated toward a community-collateralized business thus helps ensure its success.
The SHARE model is a useful and simple-to-operate tool that allows citizens to make affordable loans available to businesses that cannot secure loans at
reasonable rates for a variety of reasons. For example, there may be community members who don't have a good credit history or women who stayed home to raise children and have not built credit. There may be entire communities, especially low income communities, where banks are wary to invest or where local banks don't exist. There may also be new and innovative business ideas that aim to preserve resources or enhance the community in unique ways that banks are unfamiliar with and are therefore less likely to fund.
The power of SHARE is that it allows the community to decide what types of businesses it wants and leverages the community's capital to make those businesses possible. The E.F. Schumacher Society, originator of the SHARE model, now has made the background and organizational documents available online so that others may replicate SHARE in their communities. The SHARE Handbook is available at the E. F. Schumacher Society's web site http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/ by clicking on SHARE Micro Credit Program link orgoing directly to http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/frameset_share.html.
We thank our members for their support in making this work possible!
Sincerely,
Merrian Fuller
Chris Lindstrom
Dane Springmeyer
Susan Witt
E. F. Schumacher Society
140 Jug End Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230 USA
http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/
Economics / Community Ownership
Tools for Change: Building Sustainable Local Economies
GREAT BARRINGTON, MA, Mar. 21, 2005 (E. F. Schumacher Society)
Building Sustainable Local Economies - Tools for Change - Training Seminar -- May 25 to 29, 2005
With Michael Shuman, Chuck Turner, Susan Witt and other guest speakers
Over the last 25 years, the E. F. Schumacher Society has worked to develop and promote regional economic institutions that foster a sustainable, self-reliant and human-scale economy. Join us this May to learn about successful citizen-driven strategies for reconnecting people, land and community, and how to take action in applying them to your own region. This intensive 4-day training will examine how communities can regain economic power and create vibrant local economies by addressing the following issues:
•Structure, ownership, and community accountability of businesses
•Access to land for housing, farming, and appropriate-scale industry
•Financing new initiatives that meet social and ecological criteria
•Retention of capital within a community
The training will be limited to 25 participants to allow in-depth discussion.
Sessions will be held at the E. F. Schumacher Library, making the resources of this unique collection of books and papers available to participants. The seminar will also include site visits to local projects, including a community-financed business, an organic Community Supported Agriculture farm, and an 18-unit neighborhood of affordable owner-occupied homes built on land owned by the Community Land Trust of the Southern Berkshires.
Go to » Application form
Faculty
Michael Shuman is the author of Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age, and Vice President of Enterprise Development for the Training & Development Corporation. Michael specializes in community economics, business financing models, local investment strategies and North-South development cooperation. His current projects include a poultry company in Eastern Maryland financed through a local stock offering, a small-business venture fund in New Mexico, and a statewide small-business stock market and buy-local "club" in Maine. He speaks and consults around the country on strategies for strengthening local and regional economies, and is one of the founding board members of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, an international network of community-based businesses.
Chuck Turner has been a Boston City Councilor since 1999, well-known for challenging education inequality, discrimination, neighborhood gentrification, and the war in Iraq. He has championed and been actively involved with cooperatives and worker-owned enterprises, a leader for many years at the Industrial Cooperative Association (now the ICA Group). Chuck brings the perspective of working with diverse urban neighborhoods to redistribute wealth and bring economic power back to communities.
Susan Witt has served as executive director of the E. F. Schumacher Society in Great Barrington, Massachusetts since its founding in 1980. She created the SHARE micro-credit program, founded the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires, champions the use of local currencies, and actively serves her local community. Her essays on regional economics appear in a variety of books and publications.
Seminar Costs
The tuition fee is $420.00, which includes tuition, materials, and seven meals (4 lunches, 3 dinners), featuring food from local farms. Participation is limited to 25 people, so reserve your spot as soon as possible by sending in the registration form and payment.
The housing fee is $280.00, which includes housing for 4 nights in a single dorm room with shared bath and breakfast at Simon's Rock College. Simon's Rock is conveniently located in Great Barrington, and is the site of our evening sessions.
If you'd like to stay in the dorms through Memorial Day to further enjoy the hiking, music and other entertainments of the region, please note this on your registration form and add an additional $65.
You also may, on your own, arrange to stay at one of the many Bed & Breakfasts in the Berkshires, though rooms tend to be in high demand in late May.
If you have questions, please contact Merrian Fuller, seminar coordinator, at merrian@smallisbeautiful.org.
Program
Wednesday, May 25
Schumacher's Philosophy of Small Is Beautiful
Introduction of seminar participants with description of the regional communities they represent. Presentation of the philosophy underlying the work of building strong regionally-based economies, shaped by the democratic participation of citizens with a goal of achieving greater economic self-sufficiency. Discussion of the evolution of this concept here in the Berkshires into the complex of regionally based, democratically structured organizations working together to foster a climate of consumer support for local producers. Tour of the 12,000 volume E. F. Schumacher Library, and explanation of cataloguing system, so that it may be an easily accessible resource for seminar attendees.
Thursday, May 26
The Community Land Trust Model
A presentation of the community land trust model describing how a community can create affordable access to land for housing and other purposes; an explanation of the use of long-term leases to ensure equity in buildings to the home owner, while excluding land value at resale (thereby keeping homes affordable to future year-round residents); discussion with local home owners/leaseholders of the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires. Discussion of the application of the community land trust concept to farmland and farm residences. Example: Indian Line Farm, a 22-acre organic Community Supported Agriculture farm. How a partnership between the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires, The Nature Conservancy, and two farmers enabled the community to acquire the land of this historic farm to ensure that it remained in active production. Site visits to Indian Line Farm and Forest Row, an 18-unit neighborhood of affordable owner-occupied homes.
Friday, May 27
Building Blocks for a New Local Economy
This section of the course will introduce course participants to a theory of economic vitality grounded in LOIS enterprises – businesses that are locally owned and import-substituting – and how global trends are, surprisingly, expanding the profitable opportunities for such enterprises. A variety of models of local ownership will be contrasted and critically analyzed. Then, several broad toolboxes for promoting LOIS will be discussed, including local planning, local investing, local purchasing, and local policymaking. Local planning will cover tools for assessing community needs, assets, leakages, and subsidies. Local investing will cover new strategies for moving capital into LOIS businesses, including local banking, credit unions, the Community Reinvestment Act, local investment funds (venture, hedge, pension, mutual), and proposed state stock markets. Local purchasing will cover a variety of buy-local strategies, including business-to-consumer (local currencies, time dollars, local first campaigns), business-to-business (the WIR, Oregon Marketplace), and business-to-government (school-to-farm programs and other selective procurement efforts). And local policymaking will examine cutting-edge ideas like smart growth, smart schools, subsidy reform, green taxes and split-level property taxes, and devolution.
Community Development Financing & Local Currencies
An introduction to Community Financing Systems. Examples of successful micro-credit programs from villages around the world. Principles of creating community (or regional) development financing systems utilizing local banks as administrators. Introduction of SHARE Micro-credit Program with examples of businesses started. Discussion of self-financing techniques – how a business can finance its product or technology without the need for outside bank loans or credit. Examples: Deli-Dollars and Berkshire Farm Preserve Notes. Local Currencies as a vehicle for communities to regain control of issuing credit. Discussion of successful local currency models.
Saturday, May 28
Towards Community Self-Management and Diversification of Wealth
Diversifying Wealth: defining how a community can become a "social entrepreneur," the role that producer/consumer associations can play in establishing new business initiatives and community accountability. An examination of the Mondragon model from the Basque region of Spain and other worker-ownership models.
Sunday, May 29
Developing Action Plans
Presentations by participants of how they plan to apply the tools for community economic development they have been learning about in the training sessions to their own communities. Clarification of programs discussed in earlier days; discussion of perceived problems involved with application; discussion of ways the complex of organizations in the Berkshires works together to support each other
About the E. F. Schumacher Society
The E. F. Schumacher Society's mission is to create the foundations for a new economy based on the responsibility to ecological and human necessities, the decentralization of power, and democratic participation. We envision a future in which rural and urban villages around the world attain greater economic self-determination, providing necessities of food, clothing, shelter, and energy from regional resources for local consumption in a more equitable manner. Such an economy will foster non-violent living patterns, creating the foundation for global peace. The Society initiates both practical models for change in our community in Western Massachusetts, and also educates and empowers others to transform their own communities. In our region we have created a model community land trust that provides affordable housing, preserves land for organic family farming, and conserves important wetland and forest areas. We have also developed an innovative micro-lending program, several types of local currency, and an initiative that saved the first CSA in North America as a working farm. In addition, we house the E. F. Schumacher library, a unique collection of books and papers on decentralist thought, including E. F. Schumacher's personal collection. Building from our local work, we share our ideas and models with community-based organizers all over the world. We host an annual lecture series with visionary leaders and conduct events, such as our 2004 "Local Currencies in the 21st Century" conference that attracted 300 people from over 17 countries. We have published our lectures in over 50 individual pamphlets and collected in People, Land and Community, from Yale University Press.
Building Sustainable Local Economies Tools for Change Training Seminar
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 25
5:00-6:00 Registration at Simon's Rock College
6:00-7:15 Welcome dinner, Introductions
7:30-9:00 Seminar overview, Background
Thursday, May 26
7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Simon's Rock College
9:00-12:00 Morning session at E. F. Schumacher Library
12:00-1:00 Lunch at E. F. Schumacher Library
1:30-4:00 Community tour
4:00-6:00 Afternoon session at E. F. Schumacher Library
6:30-7:30 Dinner at Simon's Rock College
7:45-9:45 Evening session at Simon's Rock College
Friday, May 27
7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Simon's Rock College
8:30-9:30 Optional morning walk from E. F. Schumacher Library
9:30-12:00 Morning session at E. F. Schumacher Library
12:00-1:00 Lunch at E. F. Schumacher Library
1:00-4:00 Afternoon in library/hiking/shopping
4:00-6:00 Afternoon session at E. F. Schumacher Library
6:30-7:30 Dinner at Simon's Rock College
7:45-9:45 Evening session at Simon's Rock College
Saturday, May 28
7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Simon's Rock College
8:30-9:30 Optional morning walk from E. F. Schumacher Library
9:30-12:00 Morning session at E. F. Schumacher Library
12:00-1:00 Lunch at E. F. Schumacher Library
1:00-4:00 Afternoon in library/hiking/shopping
4:00-6:30 Afternoon session at E. F. Schumacher Library
6:30 on Free evening in Great Barrington
Sunday, May 29
7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Simon's Rock College
9:30-12:30 Morning session – Action Plans
12:30-1:30 Lunch at Simon's Rock College
Building Sustainable Local Economies Tools for Change Training Seminar
Application Form
Download Form printable here: PDF as RTF (for Microsoft Word)
How to Apply:
Fill out the form below and send it with a check made out to "E. F. Schumacher Society" to 140 Jug End Road, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, USA.
If you'd prefer, you can email your responses regarding the questions below to Merrian at merrian@smallisbeautiful.org and pay with a credit card over the phone at (413) 528-1737.
Enclosed is:
___ $420 Tuition fee (includes tuition, materials, 4 lunches and 3 dinners)
___ $280 Housing fee (includes housing for 4 nights in a single dorm room and breakfast at Simon's Rock College)
___ $____ To sponsor a future community leader
___ $____ A contribution to support continuing education and outreach programs of the E. F. Schumacher Society.
Name _________________________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip __________________________________________________________________
Phone________________________________________
Email________________________________________
Do you have any dietary allergies or restrictions? _________________________________________
How did you hear about this seminar? _________________________________________________
Please briefly describe your community.
What are your particular interests in attending this seminar?
Tools for Change: Building Sustainable Local Economies
GREAT BARRINGTON, MA, Mar. 21, 2005 (E. F. Schumacher Society)
Building Sustainable Local Economies - Tools for Change - Training Seminar -- May 25 to 29, 2005
With Michael Shuman, Chuck Turner, Susan Witt and other guest speakers
Over the last 25 years, the E. F. Schumacher Society has worked to develop and promote regional economic institutions that foster a sustainable, self-reliant and human-scale economy. Join us this May to learn about successful citizen-driven strategies for reconnecting people, land and community, and how to take action in applying them to your own region. This intensive 4-day training will examine how communities can regain economic power and create vibrant local economies by addressing the following issues:
•Structure, ownership, and community accountability of businesses
•Access to land for housing, farming, and appropriate-scale industry
•Financing new initiatives that meet social and ecological criteria
•Retention of capital within a community
The training will be limited to 25 participants to allow in-depth discussion.
Sessions will be held at the E. F. Schumacher Library, making the resources of this unique collection of books and papers available to participants. The seminar will also include site visits to local projects, including a community-financed business, an organic Community Supported Agriculture farm, and an 18-unit neighborhood of affordable owner-occupied homes built on land owned by the Community Land Trust of the Southern Berkshires.
Go to » Application form
Faculty
Michael Shuman is the author of Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in a Global Age, and Vice President of Enterprise Development for the Training & Development Corporation. Michael specializes in community economics, business financing models, local investment strategies and North-South development cooperation. His current projects include a poultry company in Eastern Maryland financed through a local stock offering, a small-business venture fund in New Mexico, and a statewide small-business stock market and buy-local "club" in Maine. He speaks and consults around the country on strategies for strengthening local and regional economies, and is one of the founding board members of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, an international network of community-based businesses.
Chuck Turner has been a Boston City Councilor since 1999, well-known for challenging education inequality, discrimination, neighborhood gentrification, and the war in Iraq. He has championed and been actively involved with cooperatives and worker-owned enterprises, a leader for many years at the Industrial Cooperative Association (now the ICA Group). Chuck brings the perspective of working with diverse urban neighborhoods to redistribute wealth and bring economic power back to communities.
Susan Witt has served as executive director of the E. F. Schumacher Society in Great Barrington, Massachusetts since its founding in 1980. She created the SHARE micro-credit program, founded the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires, champions the use of local currencies, and actively serves her local community. Her essays on regional economics appear in a variety of books and publications.
Seminar Costs
The tuition fee is $420.00, which includes tuition, materials, and seven meals (4 lunches, 3 dinners), featuring food from local farms. Participation is limited to 25 people, so reserve your spot as soon as possible by sending in the registration form and payment.
The housing fee is $280.00, which includes housing for 4 nights in a single dorm room with shared bath and breakfast at Simon's Rock College. Simon's Rock is conveniently located in Great Barrington, and is the site of our evening sessions.
If you'd like to stay in the dorms through Memorial Day to further enjoy the hiking, music and other entertainments of the region, please note this on your registration form and add an additional $65.
You also may, on your own, arrange to stay at one of the many Bed & Breakfasts in the Berkshires, though rooms tend to be in high demand in late May.
If you have questions, please contact Merrian Fuller, seminar coordinator, at merrian@smallisbeautiful.org.
Program
Wednesday, May 25
Schumacher's Philosophy of Small Is Beautiful
Introduction of seminar participants with description of the regional communities they represent. Presentation of the philosophy underlying the work of building strong regionally-based economies, shaped by the democratic participation of citizens with a goal of achieving greater economic self-sufficiency. Discussion of the evolution of this concept here in the Berkshires into the complex of regionally based, democratically structured organizations working together to foster a climate of consumer support for local producers. Tour of the 12,000 volume E. F. Schumacher Library, and explanation of cataloguing system, so that it may be an easily accessible resource for seminar attendees.
Thursday, May 26
The Community Land Trust Model
A presentation of the community land trust model describing how a community can create affordable access to land for housing and other purposes; an explanation of the use of long-term leases to ensure equity in buildings to the home owner, while excluding land value at resale (thereby keeping homes affordable to future year-round residents); discussion with local home owners/leaseholders of the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires. Discussion of the application of the community land trust concept to farmland and farm residences. Example: Indian Line Farm, a 22-acre organic Community Supported Agriculture farm. How a partnership between the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires, The Nature Conservancy, and two farmers enabled the community to acquire the land of this historic farm to ensure that it remained in active production. Site visits to Indian Line Farm and Forest Row, an 18-unit neighborhood of affordable owner-occupied homes.
Friday, May 27
Building Blocks for a New Local Economy
This section of the course will introduce course participants to a theory of economic vitality grounded in LOIS enterprises – businesses that are locally owned and import-substituting – and how global trends are, surprisingly, expanding the profitable opportunities for such enterprises. A variety of models of local ownership will be contrasted and critically analyzed. Then, several broad toolboxes for promoting LOIS will be discussed, including local planning, local investing, local purchasing, and local policymaking. Local planning will cover tools for assessing community needs, assets, leakages, and subsidies. Local investing will cover new strategies for moving capital into LOIS businesses, including local banking, credit unions, the Community Reinvestment Act, local investment funds (venture, hedge, pension, mutual), and proposed state stock markets. Local purchasing will cover a variety of buy-local strategies, including business-to-consumer (local currencies, time dollars, local first campaigns), business-to-business (the WIR, Oregon Marketplace), and business-to-government (school-to-farm programs and other selective procurement efforts). And local policymaking will examine cutting-edge ideas like smart growth, smart schools, subsidy reform, green taxes and split-level property taxes, and devolution.
Community Development Financing & Local Currencies
An introduction to Community Financing Systems. Examples of successful micro-credit programs from villages around the world. Principles of creating community (or regional) development financing systems utilizing local banks as administrators. Introduction of SHARE Micro-credit Program with examples of businesses started. Discussion of self-financing techniques – how a business can finance its product or technology without the need for outside bank loans or credit. Examples: Deli-Dollars and Berkshire Farm Preserve Notes. Local Currencies as a vehicle for communities to regain control of issuing credit. Discussion of successful local currency models.
Saturday, May 28
Towards Community Self-Management and Diversification of Wealth
Diversifying Wealth: defining how a community can become a "social entrepreneur," the role that producer/consumer associations can play in establishing new business initiatives and community accountability. An examination of the Mondragon model from the Basque region of Spain and other worker-ownership models.
Sunday, May 29
Developing Action Plans
Presentations by participants of how they plan to apply the tools for community economic development they have been learning about in the training sessions to their own communities. Clarification of programs discussed in earlier days; discussion of perceived problems involved with application; discussion of ways the complex of organizations in the Berkshires works together to support each other
About the E. F. Schumacher Society
The E. F. Schumacher Society's mission is to create the foundations for a new economy based on the responsibility to ecological and human necessities, the decentralization of power, and democratic participation. We envision a future in which rural and urban villages around the world attain greater economic self-determination, providing necessities of food, clothing, shelter, and energy from regional resources for local consumption in a more equitable manner. Such an economy will foster non-violent living patterns, creating the foundation for global peace. The Society initiates both practical models for change in our community in Western Massachusetts, and also educates and empowers others to transform their own communities. In our region we have created a model community land trust that provides affordable housing, preserves land for organic family farming, and conserves important wetland and forest areas. We have also developed an innovative micro-lending program, several types of local currency, and an initiative that saved the first CSA in North America as a working farm. In addition, we house the E. F. Schumacher library, a unique collection of books and papers on decentralist thought, including E. F. Schumacher's personal collection. Building from our local work, we share our ideas and models with community-based organizers all over the world. We host an annual lecture series with visionary leaders and conduct events, such as our 2004 "Local Currencies in the 21st Century" conference that attracted 300 people from over 17 countries. We have published our lectures in over 50 individual pamphlets and collected in People, Land and Community, from Yale University Press.
Building Sustainable Local Economies Tools for Change Training Seminar
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 25
5:00-6:00 Registration at Simon's Rock College
6:00-7:15 Welcome dinner, Introductions
7:30-9:00 Seminar overview, Background
Thursday, May 26
7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Simon's Rock College
9:00-12:00 Morning session at E. F. Schumacher Library
12:00-1:00 Lunch at E. F. Schumacher Library
1:30-4:00 Community tour
4:00-6:00 Afternoon session at E. F. Schumacher Library
6:30-7:30 Dinner at Simon's Rock College
7:45-9:45 Evening session at Simon's Rock College
Friday, May 27
7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Simon's Rock College
8:30-9:30 Optional morning walk from E. F. Schumacher Library
9:30-12:00 Morning session at E. F. Schumacher Library
12:00-1:00 Lunch at E. F. Schumacher Library
1:00-4:00 Afternoon in library/hiking/shopping
4:00-6:00 Afternoon session at E. F. Schumacher Library
6:30-7:30 Dinner at Simon's Rock College
7:45-9:45 Evening session at Simon's Rock College
Saturday, May 28
7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Simon's Rock College
8:30-9:30 Optional morning walk from E. F. Schumacher Library
9:30-12:00 Morning session at E. F. Schumacher Library
12:00-1:00 Lunch at E. F. Schumacher Library
1:00-4:00 Afternoon in library/hiking/shopping
4:00-6:30 Afternoon session at E. F. Schumacher Library
6:30 on Free evening in Great Barrington
Sunday, May 29
7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Simon's Rock College
9:30-12:30 Morning session – Action Plans
12:30-1:30 Lunch at Simon's Rock College
Building Sustainable Local Economies Tools for Change Training Seminar
Application Form
Download Form printable here: PDF as RTF (for Microsoft Word)
How to Apply:
Fill out the form below and send it with a check made out to "E. F. Schumacher Society" to 140 Jug End Road, Great Barrington, MA, 01230, USA.
If you'd prefer, you can email your responses regarding the questions below to Merrian at merrian@smallisbeautiful.org and pay with a credit card over the phone at (413) 528-1737.
Enclosed is:
___ $420 Tuition fee (includes tuition, materials, 4 lunches and 3 dinners)
___ $280 Housing fee (includes housing for 4 nights in a single dorm room and breakfast at Simon's Rock College)
___ $____ To sponsor a future community leader
___ $____ A contribution to support continuing education and outreach programs of the E. F. Schumacher Society.
Name _________________________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip __________________________________________________________________
Phone________________________________________
Email________________________________________
Do you have any dietary allergies or restrictions? _________________________________________
How did you hear about this seminar? _________________________________________________
Please briefly describe your community.
What are your particular interests in attending this seminar?
Conferences / Reporting
Food, Delivered Sustainably
GALT, CA, Mar. 17, 2005 (CIP, by Carol Brodie) - One of the much-discussed topics at the October 2004 Education for Sustainability Conference in Portland was sustainable food production, and sustainable food service. These talks made me curious as to what is going on in this area, and what I found was a plethora of information and activity. (Here’s what I learned):
Sustainable Food Production
What we eat, and how it is grown, prepared and served ought to be intimate knowledge for all of us. Our diets affect our health in a myriad of ways, and food production directly affects the environment. The goals of sustainable food production are to promote environmental stewardship, and to enhance the quality of life for farm families and their communities, while still providing a profitable farm income.
Sustainable production encompasses as many methods and approaches as there are growers. After all, the growers can be individual farmers, home gardeners, villages for the homeless, community farms, kibbutzes. The growing areas can be large or small, organic or non-organic. Whatever the methods, though, the goals are the same.
Sustainable food production is related to the bigger concept of sustainable development, which addresses the same issues – economics, environment and community. Farmers apply various practices to improve sustainability, and these practices can vary from farm to farm.
Sustainable Food Service
Many universities, following in the Education for Sustainability approach, are leading the way in this area, as are many other community living systems. Just think of the effect if all university food service providers followed these examples that follow!
At the University of Portland, the food service provider, Bon Appetit, strives for sustainability by buying from local organic farms and co-ops. Their "Farm to Fork" Program involves the purchase of produce and dairy (organic when available) from small local farms, meat purchases of grass-fed animals raised without the use of hormones or antibiotics, and sustainable seafood purchase principles. They also feature recycling and energy-saving efforts such as using biodegradable disposables.
At Portland State University, the Food for Thought Café is a student-run café that embodies sustainability principles. It began in the spring of 2000 with a group of PSU students interested in promoting sustainability in their campus food systems. They have a community business mentor, and partner with the Western Culinary Institute which assists them with menu development and the placement of interns. Most of the food in the café is local and grown sustainably. Disposable materials are eliminated as much as possible, and recycling and composting are within easy reach.
Higher education is not alone in working on sustainable food service, evidenced by a program launched last year at San Francisco's Aptos Middle School. In its cafeteria, Aptos removed fast and pre-packaged food, and instead opted for kid-friendly deli sandwiches, sushi, pasta, homemade soups, and fajitas. Aptos students easily adapted, but the clincher is that the school made money from the switch. Best of all, teachers at the school commented on students' improved performance in class.
Community Supported Agriculture
Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a new idea in farming, one that has been gaining momentum since its introduction from Europe in the mid-1980s. The CSA concept originated in the 1960s in Switzerland and Japan, where consumers interested in safe food, and farmers seeking stable markets for their crops joined together in economic partnerships. Today CSAs in North America number over 500.
In basic terms, CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes the community's farm, with the growers and consumers sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Often, members are "share-holders" and pledge to cover the anticipated costs of the operation (including the farmer's salary). In return, they receive part of the crop throughout the growing season.
CSA farms are overwhelmingly organic operations. Their farmers typically use organic or biodynamic farming methods, and strive to provide fresh, high-quality foods.
According to a survey done in 1999 by the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems in Massachusetts, community supported farms tend to be small. CSA farmers tend to be young, and women dominate as proprietors. Also, CSA farmers are highly educated – over 95% have attended or graduated from college.
But can a CSA support a family? Possibly. It can provide a respectable supplemental income, though. The median annual farm income for a CSA in 1999 was $15,000; however, since the CSAs are often only part of a farming operation, or are part of another business organization, it is difficult to determine how profitable these operations are for the owners.
Most CSAs offer a diversity of vegetables, fruits, and herbs in season; some provide a full array of produce, including eggs, meat, and milk. Some are dedicated to serving particular community needs, such as helping to assist homeless persons.
Many CSAs hold special social and educational events for their communities. Events typically include farm tours, children’s events, and educational programs for the community and local schools. Some include member donations for those members going through rough times. Others contribute to local food banks, often pledging a percent of their weekly produce.
The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, http://www.cias.wisc.edu/
Portland State’s Food for Thought Café lists many resources at: http://www.upa.pdx.edu/SP/resources/
Bon Appetit’s Farm to Fork and other related programs are explained further at: http://www.bamconw.com/social/index.htm
The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists many resources about Community Supported Agriculture at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/
Carol Ann Brodie
Galt, CA
Food, Delivered Sustainably
GALT, CA, Mar. 17, 2005 (CIP, by Carol Brodie) - One of the much-discussed topics at the October 2004 Education for Sustainability Conference in Portland was sustainable food production, and sustainable food service. These talks made me curious as to what is going on in this area, and what I found was a plethora of information and activity. (Here’s what I learned):
Sustainable Food Production
What we eat, and how it is grown, prepared and served ought to be intimate knowledge for all of us. Our diets affect our health in a myriad of ways, and food production directly affects the environment. The goals of sustainable food production are to promote environmental stewardship, and to enhance the quality of life for farm families and their communities, while still providing a profitable farm income.
Sustainable production encompasses as many methods and approaches as there are growers. After all, the growers can be individual farmers, home gardeners, villages for the homeless, community farms, kibbutzes. The growing areas can be large or small, organic or non-organic. Whatever the methods, though, the goals are the same.
Sustainable food production is related to the bigger concept of sustainable development, which addresses the same issues – economics, environment and community. Farmers apply various practices to improve sustainability, and these practices can vary from farm to farm.
Sustainable Food Service
Many universities, following in the Education for Sustainability approach, are leading the way in this area, as are many other community living systems. Just think of the effect if all university food service providers followed these examples that follow!
At the University of Portland, the food service provider, Bon Appetit, strives for sustainability by buying from local organic farms and co-ops. Their "Farm to Fork" Program involves the purchase of produce and dairy (organic when available) from small local farms, meat purchases of grass-fed animals raised without the use of hormones or antibiotics, and sustainable seafood purchase principles. They also feature recycling and energy-saving efforts such as using biodegradable disposables.
At Portland State University, the Food for Thought Café is a student-run café that embodies sustainability principles. It began in the spring of 2000 with a group of PSU students interested in promoting sustainability in their campus food systems. They have a community business mentor, and partner with the Western Culinary Institute which assists them with menu development and the placement of interns. Most of the food in the café is local and grown sustainably. Disposable materials are eliminated as much as possible, and recycling and composting are within easy reach.
Higher education is not alone in working on sustainable food service, evidenced by a program launched last year at San Francisco's Aptos Middle School. In its cafeteria, Aptos removed fast and pre-packaged food, and instead opted for kid-friendly deli sandwiches, sushi, pasta, homemade soups, and fajitas. Aptos students easily adapted, but the clincher is that the school made money from the switch. Best of all, teachers at the school commented on students' improved performance in class.
Community Supported Agriculture
Community supported agriculture (CSA) is a new idea in farming, one that has been gaining momentum since its introduction from Europe in the mid-1980s. The CSA concept originated in the 1960s in Switzerland and Japan, where consumers interested in safe food, and farmers seeking stable markets for their crops joined together in economic partnerships. Today CSAs in North America number over 500.
In basic terms, CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes the community's farm, with the growers and consumers sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Often, members are "share-holders" and pledge to cover the anticipated costs of the operation (including the farmer's salary). In return, they receive part of the crop throughout the growing season.
CSA farms are overwhelmingly organic operations. Their farmers typically use organic or biodynamic farming methods, and strive to provide fresh, high-quality foods.
According to a survey done in 1999 by the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems in Massachusetts, community supported farms tend to be small. CSA farmers tend to be young, and women dominate as proprietors. Also, CSA farmers are highly educated – over 95% have attended or graduated from college.
But can a CSA support a family? Possibly. It can provide a respectable supplemental income, though. The median annual farm income for a CSA in 1999 was $15,000; however, since the CSAs are often only part of a farming operation, or are part of another business organization, it is difficult to determine how profitable these operations are for the owners.
Most CSAs offer a diversity of vegetables, fruits, and herbs in season; some provide a full array of produce, including eggs, meat, and milk. Some are dedicated to serving particular community needs, such as helping to assist homeless persons.
Many CSAs hold special social and educational events for their communities. Events typically include farm tours, children’s events, and educational programs for the community and local schools. Some include member donations for those members going through rough times. Others contribute to local food banks, often pledging a percent of their weekly produce.
At Dignity Village in Portland, they use demonstration garden beds donated by a nearby middle school for food and flower production. In a proposal to the City of Portland recently, the Village seeks to expand these gardens so that:
- New common and individual plots will be added in interstitial spaces
- Rooftop gardens will be utilized for strawberries and other crops.
- Attached and free-standing greenhouses will be incorporated into some structures for year-round food production.
- Surplus vegetables will be distributed to homeless people outside the village. Depending on production, some will be produced for market.
The Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, http://www.cias.wisc.edu/
Portland State’s Food for Thought Café lists many resources at: http://www.upa.pdx.edu/SP/resources/
Bon Appetit’s Farm to Fork and other related programs are explained further at: http://www.bamconw.com/social/index.htm
The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists many resources about Community Supported Agriculture at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/csa/
Carol Ann Brodie
Galt, CA
EcoVersity / Higher Education
Call for Speakers
PORTLAND, OR, Mar., 30, 2005 (EFSWN) - Dear Colleagues, We invite your assistance in identifying speakers and writers who can address education for sustainability issues and activities at conferences and on campuses around the country. EFS West and ULSF are compiling a speakers and writers list for the benefit of the U.S. Partnership for the Decade of ESD, higher education and K-12 institutions, and others. This effort is part of the ongoing outreach effort of the U.S. Partnership, and it is a joint project of EFS West and ULSF.
PLEASE NOTE that we are interested in three types of speakers/writers:
(1) High-level spokespersons for the movement – Chancellors, presidents, vice-presidents, provosts, deans, principals, and headmasters who can speak about sustainability as an ethical imperative and as a priority in mission/planning, and discuss initiatives on their campuses. We are looking for leaders who can provide quotations for articles (if not write them) and who can give panel presentations at national higher education association conferences and other events (several higher education associations, as well as the National Association of Independent Schools, for example, have recently declared their commitment to EFS and/or signed onto the U.S. Partnership). University, college, and community college reps are all welcome.
(2) Faculty, staff, students, and facilities officers -- who can speak or write about sustainability in campus operations, curriculum, outreach/service, as well as projects that involve multiple sectors and use the campus as a learning tool. We need single or co-authored articles for The Chronicle of Higher Education, higher ed and K-12 association newsletters and journals, and papers, posters, panels or workshops at education conferences.
(3) Writers or presenters from any sector -- who can address aspects of the EFS and ESD movements in general within education (e.g., increase in sustainability coordinator positions; trends in sustainability & curriculum, programs; trends in professional schools such as business or education; importance of ESD for the future of higher ed.or K-12; developments in auditing/assessment, etc.)
What to do: Nominate yourself or someone else, include full contact information, and specify the category above and/or topic(s) for presentation. We will contact each person nominated.
If you are interested but not sure what to present, contact us anyway and we can suggest ideas or help you write a co-authored article.
Send recommendations to Judy Walton, EFS West Executive Director, at jwalton@efswest.org.
Call for Speakers
PORTLAND, OR, Mar., 30, 2005 (EFSWN) - Dear Colleagues, We invite your assistance in identifying speakers and writers who can address education for sustainability issues and activities at conferences and on campuses around the country. EFS West and ULSF are compiling a speakers and writers list for the benefit of the U.S. Partnership for the Decade of ESD, higher education and K-12 institutions, and others. This effort is part of the ongoing outreach effort of the U.S. Partnership, and it is a joint project of EFS West and ULSF.
PLEASE NOTE that we are interested in three types of speakers/writers:
(1) High-level spokespersons for the movement – Chancellors, presidents, vice-presidents, provosts, deans, principals, and headmasters who can speak about sustainability as an ethical imperative and as a priority in mission/planning, and discuss initiatives on their campuses. We are looking for leaders who can provide quotations for articles (if not write them) and who can give panel presentations at national higher education association conferences and other events (several higher education associations, as well as the National Association of Independent Schools, for example, have recently declared their commitment to EFS and/or signed onto the U.S. Partnership). University, college, and community college reps are all welcome.
(2) Faculty, staff, students, and facilities officers -- who can speak or write about sustainability in campus operations, curriculum, outreach/service, as well as projects that involve multiple sectors and use the campus as a learning tool. We need single or co-authored articles for The Chronicle of Higher Education, higher ed and K-12 association newsletters and journals, and papers, posters, panels or workshops at education conferences.
(3) Writers or presenters from any sector -- who can address aspects of the EFS and ESD movements in general within education (e.g., increase in sustainability coordinator positions; trends in sustainability & curriculum, programs; trends in professional schools such as business or education; importance of ESD for the future of higher ed.or K-12; developments in auditing/assessment, etc.)
What to do: Nominate yourself or someone else, include full contact information, and specify the category above and/or topic(s) for presentation. We will contact each person nominated.
If you are interested but not sure what to present, contact us anyway and we can suggest ideas or help you write a co-authored article.
Send recommendations to Judy Walton, EFS West Executive Director, at jwalton@efswest.org.
Transportation / Hybrid Power
Fraser Basin Council Supports Provincial Government Decision to Green Its Fleet with Hybrid Vehicles
VANCOUVER, BC, Mar. 2, 2005 (Fraser Basin Council) – Fraser Basin Council Executive Director David Marshall joined Premier Campbell in Victoria today to announce that the provincial government will add up to 356 hybrid vehicles to its current fleet.
"The Fraser Basin Council and Fleet Challenge BC wholeheartedly endorse the BC government’s decision to green its provincial fleet with hybrid vehicles," Marshall said. "This action clearly supports the Council’s own sustainability vision of social well-being supported by a strong economy and sustained by a healthy environment.
"Hybrid electric vehicles are a new technology that combines the internal combustion engine of a conventional vehicle with the battery and electric motor of an electric vehicle. The result is a vehicle that can dramatically reduce fuel consumption, greenhouse gases and smog."
Vehicles produce almost 30% of all greenhouse gases in Canada, and are also major contributors to urban smog," Marshall added. "Poor air quality is a top-of-mind issue for many British Columbians. It is an issue that, if not addressed effectively, can lead to respiratory illnesses and more costs to our health care system, thus affecting BC’s economy.
"The purchase of 350 new hybrid vehicles by the BC government shows strong leadership in addressing these challenges, and demonstrates its commitment to reducing vehicle emissions."
The Fraser Basin Council’s new Fleet Challenge BC program was recently launched to provide similar leadership across all fleet sectors in the province. The goal of this exiting initiative is to reduce vehicle emissions throughout British Columbia by 15% by 2010.
For more information, contact:
Terry Robert
Fraser Basin Council & Fleet Challenge BC
1st floor - 470 Granville Street
Vancouver BC V6C 1V5
Tel: (604) 488-5360
Email: trobert@fraserbasin.bc.ca
Fraser Basin Council Supports Provincial Government Decision to Green Its Fleet with Hybrid Vehicles
VANCOUVER, BC, Mar. 2, 2005 (Fraser Basin Council) – Fraser Basin Council Executive Director David Marshall joined Premier Campbell in Victoria today to announce that the provincial government will add up to 356 hybrid vehicles to its current fleet.
"The Fraser Basin Council and Fleet Challenge BC wholeheartedly endorse the BC government’s decision to green its provincial fleet with hybrid vehicles," Marshall said. "This action clearly supports the Council’s own sustainability vision of social well-being supported by a strong economy and sustained by a healthy environment.
"Hybrid electric vehicles are a new technology that combines the internal combustion engine of a conventional vehicle with the battery and electric motor of an electric vehicle. The result is a vehicle that can dramatically reduce fuel consumption, greenhouse gases and smog."
Vehicles produce almost 30% of all greenhouse gases in Canada, and are also major contributors to urban smog," Marshall added. "Poor air quality is a top-of-mind issue for many British Columbians. It is an issue that, if not addressed effectively, can lead to respiratory illnesses and more costs to our health care system, thus affecting BC’s economy.
"The purchase of 350 new hybrid vehicles by the BC government shows strong leadership in addressing these challenges, and demonstrates its commitment to reducing vehicle emissions."
The Fraser Basin Council’s new Fleet Challenge BC program was recently launched to provide similar leadership across all fleet sectors in the province. The goal of this exiting initiative is to reduce vehicle emissions throughout British Columbia by 15% by 2010.
For more information, contact:
Terry Robert
Fraser Basin Council & Fleet Challenge BC
1st floor - 470 Granville Street
Vancouver BC V6C 1V5
Tel: (604) 488-5360
Email: trobert@fraserbasin.bc.ca
Alternative Energy / Examples
"Fill ‘Er Up!" with Clean Burning Biodiesel
VANCOUVER, BC, Mar. 30, 2005 (Fraser Basin Council) - Six BC municipalities to purchase 80 million litres under new government program. Fraser Basin Council Chair, Patrick Reid joined Western Economic Diversification Canada Minister Stephen Owen, BC Minister of Energy and Mines Richard Neufeld and representatives from six BC municipalities to announce the BC Biofleet program – Canada’s largest biodiesel demonstration project to date.
Over the next five years, Vancouver, Whistler, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and Delta have agreed to purchase up to 80 million litres of this cleaner-burning alternative fuel. Additional provincial, Crown corporation and private sector fleets will also participate in the program.
Biodiesel is made from natural, renewable resources such as used vegetable oils, animal fats, and domestically produced oilseed crops such as soy, canola and hemp. It cuts exhaust emissions, minimizing black smoke, odour and greenhouse gas emissions, and does not contribute to acid rain.
"Western Economic Diversification Canada supported this demonstration project as part of a larger innovation strategy, to increase awareness of biodiesel’s environmental benefits and stimulate its use and production," said Minister Owen. "Finding new renewable sources of energy is vital to protecting our natural environment and building sustainable economies."
"The Fraser Basin Council and Fleet Challenge BC have spearheaded a number of programs to reduce harmful emissions from fleet vehicles while developing clean industries to help diversify B.C.’s economy," said Patrick Reid, Council Chair. "Biodiesel is another tool in our arsenal to accomplish our vision of social well-being supported by a vibrant economy and sustained by a healthy environment."
"Biodiesel is a proven and potentially homegrown fuel that we can use to improve air quality and green our provincial fleet," said Neufeld. "We are moving forward on actions in our 2002 Energy Plan to ensure cleaner air and healthy communities. This project will showcase British Columbia as a leader in sustainable environmental management."
"The City of Vancouver and the other municipalities involved in this project are committed to reducing greenhouse gases and improving air quality," said Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell. "Purchasing up to 80 million litres of blended biodiesel for use in our fleets over the next five years provides another opportunity to meet these objectives."
For more information on the BC Biofleet program or the Fraser Basin Council, contact:
Raymond McAllister
Fraser Basin Council Communications
Tel: (604) 488-5356
Email: rmcallister@fraserbasin.bc.ca
"Fill ‘Er Up!" with Clean Burning Biodiesel
VANCOUVER, BC, Mar. 30, 2005 (Fraser Basin Council) - Six BC municipalities to purchase 80 million litres under new government program. Fraser Basin Council Chair, Patrick Reid joined Western Economic Diversification Canada Minister Stephen Owen, BC Minister of Energy and Mines Richard Neufeld and representatives from six BC municipalities to announce the BC Biofleet program – Canada’s largest biodiesel demonstration project to date.
Over the next five years, Vancouver, Whistler, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and Delta have agreed to purchase up to 80 million litres of this cleaner-burning alternative fuel. Additional provincial, Crown corporation and private sector fleets will also participate in the program.
Biodiesel is made from natural, renewable resources such as used vegetable oils, animal fats, and domestically produced oilseed crops such as soy, canola and hemp. It cuts exhaust emissions, minimizing black smoke, odour and greenhouse gas emissions, and does not contribute to acid rain.
"Western Economic Diversification Canada supported this demonstration project as part of a larger innovation strategy, to increase awareness of biodiesel’s environmental benefits and stimulate its use and production," said Minister Owen. "Finding new renewable sources of energy is vital to protecting our natural environment and building sustainable economies."
"The Fraser Basin Council and Fleet Challenge BC have spearheaded a number of programs to reduce harmful emissions from fleet vehicles while developing clean industries to help diversify B.C.’s economy," said Patrick Reid, Council Chair. "Biodiesel is another tool in our arsenal to accomplish our vision of social well-being supported by a vibrant economy and sustained by a healthy environment."
"Biodiesel is a proven and potentially homegrown fuel that we can use to improve air quality and green our provincial fleet," said Neufeld. "We are moving forward on actions in our 2002 Energy Plan to ensure cleaner air and healthy communities. This project will showcase British Columbia as a leader in sustainable environmental management."
"The City of Vancouver and the other municipalities involved in this project are committed to reducing greenhouse gases and improving air quality," said Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell. "Purchasing up to 80 million litres of blended biodiesel for use in our fleets over the next five years provides another opportunity to meet these objectives."
For more information on the BC Biofleet program or the Fraser Basin Council, contact:
Raymond McAllister
Fraser Basin Council Communications
Tel: (604) 488-5356
Email: rmcallister@fraserbasin.bc.ca
